U.S. border 'surge' would place agent every 1,000 feet

June 20, 2013|Reuters

By Rachelle Younglai

WASHINGTON, June 20 (Reuters) - The 2,000-mile (3,200-km)boundary between the United States and Mexico would have enoughborder patrol agents to station one guard every 1,000 feet (300metres), under a compromise measure being considered by the U.S.Senate as part of an effort to pass a comprehensive immigrationreform bill.

It would also provide for the completion of 700 miles (1,120km) of fencing, observation towers, manned and unmanned aerialvehicles, radar and even seismic devices to prevent foreignersfrom illegally crossing the border, according to a descriptionprovided by a sponsor of the compromise.

The buildup of agents equipped with high-tech night-visiongoggles, radar devices and electronic sensors was so reminiscentto some senators of past U.S. combat missions in Iraq thatsupporters openly boasted about the southwestern border "surge"- even as some civil liberties activists complained about bordercommunities being turned into militarized zones.

The huge deployment is being proposed to try to assureRepublicans that the border is secure under Senate legislationsupported by President Barack Obama that would open a pathway tocitizenship for up to 11 million undocumented immigrants in theUnited States.

Republicans have said repeatedly they would not support acomprehensive immigration bill unless it stopped foreigners fromillegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.

The cost of the extra deployment is estimated to rangebetween $40 billion and $50 billion, congressional aides said,at a time of budgetary retrenchment pushed primarily byRepublicans in Congress. Whether the money is everappropriated-and the new agents deployed would depend on futureCongresses.

"I think it's overkill," said Democratic Senator DickDurbin, who was one of the bipartisan group of senators whocrafted the original bill. "This notion of doubling the numberof people on the border and 700 more miles of fence is reallytrying to appease some Republicans who want a dramatic show offorce on the border," he said.

According to a release by Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee,one of the authors of the amendment, the bill would add 20,000border patrol agents along the southern border to the 18,500already stationed there.

'HOW MUCH IS IT GOING TO COST?'

Many Republican senators have suggested they are open toallowing the millions of undocumented immigrants to gain legalstatus as long as the border is secure enough to prevent a newwave of illegal immigrants.

But the measure authored by Republicans Corker and SenatorJohn Hoeven of North Dakota was questioned by some of the mostconservative members.

Republican Lindsey Graham, a supporter of the bill and thebuildup, said there would be a law enforcement official every1,000 feet of the border 24 hours a day.

The numbers exceeded by four times the number proposed byTexas Senator John Cornyn, a Republican pushing hard forincreased border security, which was rejected by the Senate.

"My amendment was disparaged" as a "budget buster," saidCornyn. "I was told we don't need more boots, we needtechnology. Now I find to my shock and amazement (supporters)saying we need 20,000 more border patrol. How much is it goingto cost? That's the question."

The difference is that Cornyn's proposal would have madedeployment of the agents a "trigger" before undocumentedimmigrants could gain legal status.